History of Flight
On August 29, 2013, about 1300 Alaska daylight time, a Champion 7ECA (Citabria) airplane, N9624S, sustained substantial damage following a collision with terrain about 7 miles north of Sutton, Alaska. The private pilot and one passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules personal local flight under 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from Wolf Lake Airport, Palmer, Alaska, around 1200.
According to a family member of the pilot, the purpose of the flight was to scout for moose hunting locations. The pilot indicated they would return later that afternoon.
When the airplane did not return to Wolf Lake, a family member of the passenger reported it overdue to the 11th Air Force's Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) about 1930. The RCC initiated a search along the supposed route of flight. In the early morning hours of August 30, an Air National Guard C-130 Hercules located the wreckage. Rescue personnel aboard an HH-60G helicopter reached the site later that morning and confirmed the pilot and passenger were deceased.
Pilot Information
The pilot, age 30, held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single engine land. He was issued a third class airman medical certificate on October 15, 2012. No personal flight records were located; aeronautical experience was obtained from FAA airman records. On his most recent medical application, he indicated total aeronautical experience of 84.2 hours, with 1 hour in the previous 6 months. Additional time logs found in the accident airplane indicated a total additional flight time since the last medical of approximately 40 hours.
Aircraft Information
The two-seat, high-wing, fixed-gear airplane, serial number 169, was manufactured in 1966. It was powered by a Lycoming O-235-C1 engine rated at 115 horsepower, driving a two-bladed metal fixed pitch propeller. Aircraft logbooks were not located. A note found inside the airplane indicated that on August 27, 2013, an oil and filter change, new wheels, and a new starter were installed. The tachometer time for this maintenance was 112.0 hours; the tachometer at the accident site read 112.8 hours.
Meteorological Information
The closest weather reporting facility was Palmer Airport, about 14 miles south of the accident site. At 1353, an Aviation Routine Weather Report (METAR) reported: wind 060 degrees true at 6 knots; visibility 10 statute miles; overcast clouds at 10,000 feet; temperature 57°F; dew point 48°F; altimeter 29.73 inches.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The wreckage was located in an area of heavy alder brush, about 250 yards upslope from the floor of a three-mile-wide mountain valley. The surrounding area had game trails and numerous moose tracks and sign. A large herd of moose was spotted in the valley in days after the accident.
The airplane came to rest upright in a nose-low attitude on several toppled and broken trees. The tail was against a tree supported by the vertical stabilizer. All control surfaces were identified, and flight control continuity was verified from all surfaces to the cockpit. Both wings had spanwise leading edge crushing. The empennage was mostly free of impact damage; the right elevator was resting against a tree with its trailing edge crushed and bent upward. The engine and propeller were partially buried in soft terrain; visible portions of the engine showed no anomalies. One visible propeller blade was relatively free of impact damage. Both main landing gear were bent upward and aft from connecting points, showing signs of left-side loading.
The cockpit area was extensively damaged. The engine and firewall were displaced upward and aft; the instrument panel was displaced upward almost to the top of the windscreen. The mixture control was found full forward; carburetor heat was off. Throttle position could not be determined due to damage. The master switch was on, and both magneto switches were in the "ON" position.
Medical and Pathological Information
A postmortem examination conducted on September 3, 2013, attributed the pilot's cause of death to multiple blunt force injuries. Toxicological examinations by the FAA's Civil Aeromedical Institute on October 7, 2013, were negative for carbon monoxide and alcohol, but positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and its metabolite, tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid, in various tissues.
THC is the psychoactive compound in marijuana with therapeutic levels as low as 0.001 ug/ml. Its effects include euphoria, relaxed inhibitions, disorientation, and impaired coordination. The report describes that THC can decrease concentration and hand-eye coordination, and cause impairment in divided attention tasks.